Wainwright later backtracked from that statement, telling Fox reporter Erin Andrews in a televised interview: "You know what, sometimes my humor gets taken the wrong way. I feel terrible about this if anyone is taking any credit away from what Derek Jeter has done tonight or off me or anything. It was mis-said."
NL manager Mike Matheny defended Wainwright, his ace with the Cardinals.

“I know that has been completely blown out of proportion and taken out of context,” Matheny said. “Anybody that knows anything about this guy knows that he's one of the great competitors that's played this game in a long time.

"It's a shame in this game when people are looking for people with personalities to maybe not be so drab and bland like me, and actually mix in some personality and some humor … and it's taken completely out of context and run all over social media. It's an absolute shame."

A sampling of the social media backlash:

Adam Wainwright admitted he grooved a fastball to Derek Jeter in the first: “I was gonna give him a couple pipe shots. He deserved it."